Apparatus for manufacturing drain pipes in the earth



July 12, 1938. JANERT 2,123,243

APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING DRAIN PIPES IN THE EARTH Filed July 24, 1936Fig. 1 v I Irma- F H E I N z a A NE rr 7- jm enzor:

1 k his 1471' Patented July 12, 1938 PATENT OFFICE APPARATUS FORMANUFACTURING DRAIN PIPES IN THE EARTH Heinz Janert, Leiplll, GermanyApplication July 24, 1936, Serial No. 92,316 In Germany March 29, 193511 Claims. (Cl. 111-5) The invention concerns the manufacture of drainpipes inside the earth.

It is known to form pipes of concrete below the earth for draining andwater introducing purposes. Until now it was usual to introduce byadapted devices wet concrete into the soil and to form it successivelyto the pipe. Difllculties arose therein from obstructions oi thechannels by the wet and sticky concrete masses.

l0 The invention gives a very advantageous possibility of avoiding saiddimculties by introducing the concrete into the soil in dry state andwetting it thereafter by aid of an underground-going body (so calledmole body) fitted with transportmg and mixing devices for the dryconcrete so as to uniformly admix the water added below the ground andto exert a suflicient pressing of the material against a moulding piecewhich follows.

In a further embodiment of the invention, a

roof is arranged on top above the mixer and presser similar to the molebody, so as to extend about to the after end of the moulding piece.Thereby any bursting out of the material during pressing is preventedmnda uniform tube of good rigidity is produced.

A further detail of the invention consists in mounting the mouldingpiece on the shaft supporting the mixer. The moulding piece is therebyheld in definite direction and receives a rotation which is essentialfor avoiding obstructions during the moulding process.

The shaft supporting the mixing and pressing device is advantageouslyextended on its rear portion to form the moulding piece. whereby theconstruction becomes specially simple. If further the said shaft is madehollow for introducing the liquid components, the liquid comes centrallyinto the mixer and is very uniformly distributed over the whole pipeperiphery in consequence of the shaft rotation.

A further detail of the invention consists in arranging the nozzlefeeding the liquid from the shaft in a direction contrary to therotation. This obviates any obstruction of the nozzle or nozzles. I

with special advantage the drive of thepressing device is coupled to theadvancing drive in such way that to a certain advancement corresponds acertain rotation velocity of the pressing device. Thereby a constant andregulable pressing pressure is warranted.

For ensuring a specially favorable and completely uniform materialintroduction to the mixing chamber. the feeding is effected from asupply through a feed pipe containing vertically movable rods or thelike.

The mole body including the shaft with pressing device and mouldingpiece is easily exchangeably arranged on a holding plate for enablingsaid members to be easily replaceable by members of other dimensions.This gives the possibility to produce pipes of diiferent dimensions bythe apparatus remaining unaltered to its largest extent.

The invention is illustrated by way of example in the drawing, in whichFig. 1 shows one embodiment in longitudinal section, I

Fig. 2 is a section along line lIII of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a section along line IIIIII of Fig. 1

Fig. 4 shows a second embodiment in longitudinal section,

Fig. 5 is a. rear view. and

Fig. 6 is a cross section along line VI--VI of Fig. 4.

The apparatus according to Figs. 1 to 3 consists of a holder or bladeelement I connected to a tractor or other vehicle and carrying a socalled mole body 2 which by being drawn through the H soil forms a tubelike channel or here in the soil. A trailing core 3 serves for shapingthe tube to be formed of the concrete introduced by aid of the bladeelement I.

For introducing the concrete in dry state, immediately behind the bladeelement a channel 4 is arranged. The mole body 2 is provided with ashaft 5 rotatable from'top for example by a chain drive 8 and fittedwith a press screw I for catching the material coming from the channel 4and pressing it rearward. 0n the same spot the material is at oncewetted by water introduced by a channel 8. In the space 9 adjoining thepress screw I and serving as a mixing chamber the shaft 5 is providedwith small shovels or the like for thoraughly mixing the wet concrete,which thereaftgi' is shaped to a tube by the core 3. Said core 3 isattached to the shaft 5 by a ball joint, so that it does not need torotate.

The apparatus according to Figs. 4 to 6 again consists of a bladeelement I mounted adjustably in height on a (not shown) running frameand holding on its bottom end the mole body 2 and the special mixing andpressing devices arranged in the mixing chamber.

An upper cover separating the mixing chamof the concrete a surely closedchamber is formed. The length of said roof I is so dimensioned that itextends about to the end of the mold body.

The pressing device I I and the mixers I! are rigidly fastened to theshaft l3 whose rear part I has an outer diameter corresponding to theinner diameter of the tube to be manufactured, so as to itself act as amoulding core. The pressing device II has proven especially advantageouswhen shaped of segments of a helix.

The driving gear of the shaft 13 consists in the illustrated example ofa chain gear 6 connected in such way that the material introduction andpressure generation are correctly dependent upon the forward movement ofthe entire apparatus.

A longitudinal bore ii of the shaft l3 receives liquid from a feedingtube It inclosed in the blade element I and leads it to the mixingchamber through orifices I'I opening backwards with respect to the senseof rotation. The solid material, coming from a supply (not shown), is:led through a feed pipe 4 to the press. Special means, such aslongitudinal rods l8 oscillated in longitudinal direction by aneccentric drive IS, from the running drive of the entire apparatus, maybe arranged in the feed pipe 4 for freeing it from sticking materials.

The mole body 2 including the shaft and pressing and mixing devices ismounted on the blade element i so as to be easily replaceable, so thatthe apparatus, remaining unaltered in its other members, is able toproduce tubes of different inner and outer diameters corresponding tothe chosen dimensions of the mole body 2 and shaft or core H.

I claim:

1. In an apparatus of the character described, a soil separating molebody, a structure for holding said mole body and adapted to be driventhrough the soil so as to form a subterranean bore, a core connected tothe rear end of said mole body and trailing the latter so as to definean annular space with said bore, separate means to introduce solid andliquid ingredients for concrete adjacent the forward end of said core,means to mix the concrete ingredients, and means to press the mixedconcrete rearwardly into said annular space, both said mixing andpressing means being carried by the rear end of said mole body beforethe forward end of said core.

2. An apparatus for manufacturing drain pipes in the soil as claimed inclaim 1, wherein a central shaft is rotatably held in the mole body andfitted with mixing and pressing devices.

3. An apparatus for manufacturing drain pipes in the soil as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the a mixing and pressing devices are covered on top bya roof substantially following the upper contour of the mole body.

4. An apparatus for manufacturing drain pipes in the soil as claimed inclaim 1, wherein a cen-' tral shaft is rotatably held in the mole body,and

the core is fastened to said shaft.

5. An apparatus for manufacturing drain pipes in the soil as claimed inclaim 1, wherein a central shaft is rotatably held in the mole body andis shaped in its rear portion as a core.

6. An apparatus for manufacturing drain pipes in the soil as claimed inclaim 1, wherein a hollow central shaft is rotatably held in the molebody and fitted with mixing and pressing devices, and liquid introducingmeans are connected to said hollow shaft.

7. An apparatus for manufacturing drain pipes in the soil as claimed inclaim 1, wherein a hollow central shaft is rotatably held in the molebody and fitted with mixing and pressing devices, liquid introducingmeans are connected to said hollow shaft, and an outlet orifice opensfrom said shaft into the mixing chamber backwards with respect to therotation of said hollow shaft.

8. An apparatus for manufacturing drain pipes in the soil as claimed inclaim 1, wherein a drive for the pressing device is operativelyconnected to a member rotating in unison with the moving of the molebody along through the soil in such dependency, that the rotationalvelocity of the pressing device has a distinct ratio to the forwardvelocity of the entire apparatus.

9. An apparatus for manufacturing drain pipes in the soil as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the solid material introducing means consist of a feedpipe provided with longitudinally movable longitudinal rods, and a driveconnected to the means for moving the mole body, for oscillating saidrods.

10. In an apparatus of the character described, a soil-separating molebody adapted to be driven through the soil so as to form a subterraneanbore, a chamber carried by said mole body and extending rearwardlytherefrom, means for sepbore.

HEINZ J ANE'RT.

